XE 310 FOUR-STROKE The XEF 310 has thus far lived in the shadow of the XE 300 . All the excitement has been about the two-stroke . The 310 was just a convenient add-on , “ oh , and we have this ...” Jeepers , even in the press pack it got just two pages , the standout features : ‘ dedicated piston and cylinder ’, ‘ three engine maps ’, ‘ traction control ’, ‘ dedicated suspension setting ’ and ‘ new handlebar controls ’. That ’ s it , an incredible undersell ... So we ’ ll backpedal just a little bit . What it is , fundamentally , is the XEF 250 ( aka WR250F reworked ) with a bigger bore to bring up from 249 to 303cc . Plus traction control . Although one of the techs did say it was a ‘ special piston ’ in that cylinder , made to Fantic ’ s specific requirements , not just an off-the-shelf Athena kit jobbie . What it did get , not mentioned in the press pack , but vocalised by the man himself , was hours of fine tuning by former world champion Alex Salvini ( now working in Fantic ’ s R & D ). This machine was very much ‘ his baby ’ and he put a lot of effort into making sure this engine and its fuelling was optimised for every situation . So that ’ s the tech ...
The Ride So here ’ s the thing – this was love at first ride . The XE 300 is a lot of work , a lot of performance , a pro-level race bike for the committed , highlyskilled rider . Jumping on the XEF 310 was to move into a clubman-friendly parallel universe , where everything feels easy , natural and very precise . The big story is the extra hoof the extra capacity brings . I jumped on the XEF 250 before riding the 310 , for an instant comparison , and where the 250 felt short geared , revvy , racy , committing , on the 310 there ’ s long gears and a long even ramp-up of power . Up the long uphill straight ( still bumpy , mind ) I quickly shortshifted into third gear and just let the 310 wind itself up ; it simply sang , running arrow-sharp , a beautiful combination of rev-howl and pinpoint steering and sweetly damped suspension . It ’ s a bike that flatters the rider , giving more for less . The three power modes work well . The softest map would suit a beginner , or maybe an ultra-slick grass test – but for most riders in good conditions it ’ ll probably be too soft . The standard map is just fine , the hard map is just fine , too – harder hitting , yes , but still very
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